To protect athletes from injury, players of football, hockey, lacrosse, soccer and other contact sports wear protective equipment, such as shoulder pads, rib pads, back pads, and shin pads. This protective equipment is typically worn underneath outer apparel such as sports jerseys. In order to enhance performance, athletes desire an attachment system between the apparel and the protective equipment that eliminates movement between the apparel and the underlying protective equipment. Known systems for attaching apparel to protective equipment include the use of two-sided tape, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,408 to Monica.
The Monica patent discloses a double-sided tape having two adhesive sides. A first adhesive side contacts and adheres to an underlying protective pad and a second adhesive side contacts and adheres to overlying apparel. The system provided in the Monica patent, however, has many drawbacks. For instance, athletes typically remove the outer apparel from the underlying protective equipment after each sporting event or game. Each removal reduces the adhesiveness or stickiness of the two-sided tape. In addition, the outer apparel and underlying protective equipment are often exposed to moisture and dirt since contact sports often take place outdoors. Moisture and dirt will inhibit the adhesiveness of the two-sided tape. As a result, the Monica system requires replacement after only a few uses and after limited exposure to moisture and/or dirt. Frequent replacement of two-sided tape, in turn, requires considerable manual effort and results in increased maintenance time and expense. Furthermore, the two-sided tape system of Monica lacks the shear strength required for effective use. Although the two-sided tape system reduces movement between the apparel and underlying protective equipment, the adhesiveness of the system fails when subjected to high shear stress caused by a hard pull, yank, or tug of the outer apparel. Under these conditions, which frequently occur in many contact sports, the outer apparel tears away from the underlying protective equipment, which is undesirable.
Consequently, there exists a genuine need for an apparel attachment system that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art systems. The present invention solves the aforementioned problems of the prior art.